True to form for longstanding Italian weirdos Zu, ‘Ferrum Siderum’ is wild and thoroughly immersive. The album is hectic and feral but also extremely considered: the eleven tracks here span a whopping 80 minutes, but nothing feels flabby or frivolous and not a single moment is wasted or given over to frilly self-indulgence. Drums, bass, synths and sax collide in ways that are by turns malevolent and mischievous, crushing and curiously joyful. Huge, rude blarts bounce off swinging basslines and tricksy, hyperkinetic rhythms with the overall sound speaking to prog, jazz, noise-rock and sludge metal but refusing to ally itself to any one genre. That Zu are pushing 30 as a band and still sounding so incredibly vital is, frankly, incredible. I want to know how they do it, because this album – like most of everything they’ve ever released – is absolutely bloody thrilling.
